Three-Way Bridge, One-Shot: And the Rest is History
by Madison E. Blackwood
Summary: An innocent statement brings up inquiry into Ras' past. ((Pairings: Nico/OC, Percabeth mentioned))


A/N: Back again, are we? ^m^ Glad to have you! Enjoy this little one-shot adventure~

Title: **Three-Way Bridge, One-Shot: And the Rest is History...**

Universe: **Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus / Kane Chronicles**

Main Characters: **Erasmus Porter (OC) / Nico di Angelo (canon)  
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**Percy Jackson (canon) / Annabeth Chase (canon)**

Rating: **M for sexual content**

Summary: **An innocent brings up inquiry into Ras' past.  
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><p>The sun vanished into the sea as I watched, turning the water gold and leaving fire in the sky. A single wisp of cloud hovered near the horizon, looking very much like a splotch of blood, and not too far from it was a single star, dim in the sunlight.<p>

I shifted slightly and leaned my head back against the tree behind me, content. A bird whistled and flew down to rest on a low branch beside me, peering down at the ground.

_Food_, she trilled. _Need food; children hungry. Mate gone..._ I frowned, unsure I'd translated that correctly. While my ability to understand certain animals had grown over the years, I sometimes got mixed up, and it annoyed me to no end.

"Where is your mate?" I asked the bird softly. She ruffled her gray-brown feathers and hopped toward me.

_Gone,_ she repeated. _Still; hasn't moved since snowfall._ My frown deepened. It was early spring now, and if her mate hadn't moved since the beginning of winter, he must have frozen to death long ago.

"Where are your children?" I asked. She fluffed her feathers proudly and sang a quick song.

_Born; hatched. Beauties; just like my mate._ I smiled softly. Then I held out my hand to the bird, and she hopped onto my index finger.

"Will you show me your nest?" I requested. "I can help feed your kids." She hesitated, cocking her head and eyeing me as a potential threat. After a moment, she gave in and whistled affirmatively. I stood as she took off and flew to a tree just a little ways down the coast. As I neared the tree, she flew to the next, and then a little further, leading me down the coast.

Eventually, she came to a stop in a thin pine tree. A few branches above her rested a small nest. Carefully, I climbed up to it. Three little pink featherless birds cried out for food and I smiled, then climbed down.

"I'll be back," I told the mother. "With food."

By the time I got back to the camp, Orinda and Kohn were already sending the younger kids to bed and setting up the night watch. I nodded to Lore as he opened the gate to let me in, and he waved back.

"Orinda," I called. She stopped and looked over.

"What do you need, Porter?" she asked, smiling. Kohn gave me a jealous, half-hearted glare. The daughter of Ares rarely smiled, and it was most often directed at me. Of course, Kohn had been asking her out over and over since our minor head-on collision; despite his actions against me six years ago tonight, we've become rather close, yet he still gives me the evil eye every time Orinda shares her rare smile with me and not him.

"Where's Kyle?" I asked. "I need to talk to him about something." She frowned in thought, and then snapped her fingers.

"Oh! He's with the new kid," she said. Now it was my turn to frown.

"New kid?"

"Yeah, another son of Hephaestus," she nodded. "Jay, that new son of Demeter, and Loren found him hiding from a group of harpies just this morning. They brought him into camp, but we couldn't find you all day, so we couldn't tell you. Kyle took him in; he's only, like, 12 years old or something. They're in the shop tent, I think." Nodding, I hurried toward the tent Kyle used for his workshop.

"Thanks, Rin," I called back over my shoulder.

Kyle was in the tent, leaning over the shoulder of a boy who looked similar to him, minus several years and plus darker hair.

"Give me just a moment, please," Kyle said, not looking up. I waited patiently as the boy connected a wire, carefully wound it up and tucked it into the machine on the bench in front of them, and then painstakingly welded it shut.

"The plates are thin, though," the kid noted, looking up at his half-brother. Kyle smiled.

"Not a problem, Dee," he said. "It's not meant for combat anyway, just sparring." He clapped Dee on the shoulder and then turned to face me, grinning when he saw who it was. "Hey, Ras. What can I do for you?"

"I need a bird-feeder," I said. The look on his face was hilarious.

"A what?" he asked. Then he cut me off as I started to repeat myself. "Why on earth do you need a bird-feeder?"

"Don't ask," I said, chuckling. He held up his hands and mouthed 'Ok' before turning to a table covered in junk and grabbed a tube. He tinkered for a few minutes before handing me a beautifully made bird-feeder with Hephaestus' symbol stamped onto the bottom.

"Does that work?" he asked. I nodded, taking it.

"Perfect," I said. "Thanks!"

"No problem, man," he smiled. "Oh! Before I forget; I saw Nico in town the other day when I went to get some supplies. He said he'd probably be coming by tonight, because of the big meeting tomorrow." A wide grin that I couldn't suppress spread across my face.

"Right," I said, clearing my throat. "Ah, could you tell Orinda and Kohn to start making preparations for a feast? Last time he was here, Nico said he'd be bringing Percy and the others next time he came."

"Sure thing," Kyle nodded.

"Thanks again," I said, then hurried out of the tent and out of the camp. The bird was whistling impatiently when I arrived.

_Late_, she scolded. _Children hungry, feed._ I climbed up.

"I'm sorry it took so long," I told her, attaching the bird-feeder to the trunk on the tree. "This doesn't have any food in it, but I've enchanted it; you will always be able to find food, so long as this" I tapped the feeder "is intact. Ok?" She chirruped in confusion.

_Food?_ she asked. _In box?_

"Not in," I corrected. "It brings food to you." Cocking her head, she studied me a moment, then burst into a gorgeous song of thanks that warmed my heart.

_Many thanks, human,_ she cheeped. I smiled and began to climb down from the tree.

"Hey, Ras!" Startled, I lost my grip and slipped. With a cry of surprise, I fell out of the tree, hitting my shoulder on one of the branches before thumping down on someone and taking them to the ground, knocking our heads together. Hissing in pain, I pushed myself up, and abruptly froze as I saw who it was.

"Nico!" Wincing as he rubbed his head, he managed a grin.

"There is something seriously wrong with you, you know that?" he said. I blinked.

"Wha- Why do say that?" I asked, frowning. He laughed and reached up to put his arms around my neck.

"Idiot," he snorted. "You always land on me." A smile tugged at my lips as he tugged at me, and I leaned down to press my mouth to his.

"Not always my fault," I murmured around his lips. He moaned in response and pulled me closer, slipping his tongue between my teeth and licking the roof of my mouth. Shivers of delight shot through me and I clung to him.

"Ok, seriously, you guys," a girl's voice interrupted us. We broke the kiss to look up at Percy and Annabeth. The latter made a weird face. "And I thought kissing Percy was bad."

"Hey!" the son of Poseidon protested. "That's not...!" Annabeth cut him off by grabbing the lapel of his jacket and yanking him forward to kiss him. I glanced down at Nico.

"Hypocrite much?" I joked. He laughed and whapped my shoulder.

"Get off, elephant," he ordered. I stood, pretending to be offended.

"I'm not that fat!" I exclaimed. He gave me a cocked look, his head tilted and one eyebrow raised. "I'm only pig sized." I made a playful snorting sound and he coughed a laugh, rolling his eyes. Then he looked at the couple making out in front of us and sighed.

"Oy, Percy," he said, kicking the hero's leg. Percy broke away from Annabeth, blushing sheepishly.

"Sorry," he apologized. I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

"No, you're not," I countered. "Either way, let's go back; Rin and Kohn are preparing a feast in your honor." The hero's blush deepened.

"M-me?" he squeaked. "But..!"

"That's great!" Annabeth cut him off, jabbing his side with her elbow. "But we don't need it; Percy and I are just popping in to say hi and get a report for Chiron." I grimaced.

"It's report day already?" I groaned. "Joy..."

"Hey," Nico said, nudging my arm. "Don't forget that tomorrow he meets with Zeus for the last time about making your camp official."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, nodding. "And Zeus promised he'd talk to the other gods about it and have a real decision for us by then." I brightened at that, smiling.

"Well, then why don't we have a pre-celebration?" I suggested. "If our request is approved, then we'll have a bigger feast tomorrow night. If not... Well, let's not think about that until it comes around. Shall we?" I held out my hand for Nico's and he took it, twining his fingers with mine. Percy and Annabeth linked their arms and joined us, Percy taking my hand, Annabeth taking Nico's. The son of Hades shadow-traveled us back to the camp, and Orinda spotted us almost immediately.

"Hey, Ras," she called, trotting over with Kohn at her heels. "The mess hall is set up, but we're short on plates."

"Got it," Percy said, gesturing to the pack on his back. "Chiron had us bring a couple more over. He said the camp had grown since we were last here, but..." He looked around, whistling at the enlarged encampment. "...This is much bigger than I expected."

"Well, we've gotten about a dozen more demigods since you were last here," Kohn pointed out.

"Yeah, but still..." Percy shook his head. "It reminds me of New Rome."

"New Rome?" I repeated, frowning.

"Camp Jupiter," Nico reminded. "It's an entire community; New Rome is the city, Camp Jupiter is just the part that involves the legion, which protects the rest of it. The summer before we met, Hera swapped Percy and Jason, one of the Roman praetors. Or, he used to be... Frank's the praetor now."

"Reyna," I said, making a connection. Percy and Nico nodded.

"She's the other praetor," Percy said. "She and Frank run a tight ship at Camp Jupiter, and that makes New Rome a safe place for demigods. There are colleges in New Rome, for demigods; homes, too. Demigods have actually grown up, gotten married and had families there. Reyna was going to retire soon, last I heard, so she can go to college and hopefully settle down." I stared at him. Even though I was 22, the idea of living in peace had never occurred to me.

"New Rome?" I said in disbelief. "And this place reminds you of that?" Percy nodded, completely serious.

"Absolutely," he answered emphatically. "You've done a better job than I thought possible, Erasmus, and I'm surprised you don't have any two-year-olds running around here." I glanced at Nico, and then at Orinda and Kohn, momentarily envisioning two intelligent, bright-eyed little warrior girls with Kohn's eyes and Orinda's temperament. The thought made me blush slightly.

"T-that's not... I mean, this isn't..." I stammered. "It's not safe enough! We're attacked almost a dozen times each day; there's no way any sort of family could be started here!" Percy and Annabeth exchanged amused, non-conversational glances. Fortunately, my ability to read people had improved quite a bit since I first discovered it.

"Well, maybe that will change tomorrow," Annabeth said, clearly ending the conversation. "Now where's that food? I'm starving!" We moved to the mess hall, where everyone was already gathering. All of us sat at the head table, waiting for the demigods to calm. Given the number—we now had 49, including Dee—it took quite a while. Orinda and I handed out the rest of the plates that Percy had brought us.

"Attention!" Kohn shouted eventually, bringing almost fifty pairs of eyes to the front. "We are honored to have Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase with us today, as well as Nico di Angelo. Tonight, we celebrate nearly seven years of success at protecting this camp." Cheers filled the open-sided tent and the sound of silverware banging on tables rang out with the shouts of joy. Kohn sat, and we began eating.

Percy and Annabeth hesitated. I wasn't sure why, but Nico jumped to my aid.

"They don't sacrifice anything yet," he told them. "Once they become an official camp, then they will. They've already got proper altars for each of the gods." I gave him a curious glance as they nodded and began to eat. He leaned closer, his hand brushing my knee, which sent heat through me that almost blocked out his words.

"At Camp Half-Blood, they sacrifice a portion of their food to the gods before eating," he explained. "It's a sort of... 'Thank you' ritual. Like your praying." I nodded, getting it, and turned to do just that; bowing my head, I silently thanked God for my food, and then dug in.

The meal went quickly, with lots of talking and laughing. Plenty of jokes flew about Percy and I, about our look-alike appearances. Nico and I shared a few stolen kisses, including one that Orinda dared us to by suggesting we'd never make out in public with other people around. Her embarrassment when we did was the source of loud laughter and several new jokes poking fun at her and Kohn, most of which ended with both of them blushing furiously.

"Hey, Erasmus," Nico said later, after things had calmed a bit. Percy was listening to Annabeth and Kohn debate on the benefits of having a sword or a dagger in battle, and Orinda had excused herself to check on the night watch.

"What's up, love?" I asked, leaning on the table. He blushed slightly, looking up to meet my gaze.

"I was just wondering..." he began. "Well, earlier, the New Rome thing... It got me thinking about before we met, and..." A tiny pang of worry bit at me and I sat up.

"And..?" I prompted. He must have heard the worry in my voice because he grabbed my hand.

"I was just wondering about your past," he said quickly. Relaxing, I smiled.

"My past?" I repeated, chuckling. "What's there to tell? I was an orphan." He edged a little closer and rested his head on his fist, his elbow on his knee, clearly telling me to go on. I snorted and shook my head. "You really want to know?"

"I want to know everything about my boyfriend," he said simply, leaning closer. I laughed and settled back in my chair.

"Alright," I said, pulling a thread of magic from the Mist and winding it around us. Telling it to help him visualize what I said, I began. "I guess I have to go back to when I was ten, and Dad told me he had something important to tell me..."

_"Erasmus!" Dad called. I looked up from the mud pies I was happily playing in. Even though I was already ten, I still liked playing in the mud. It had rained last night, and that gave me plenty of mud all around our house to dirty myself with._

_"Coming, Dad!" I shouted, slapping half-dried mud from my hands and running into the house. The moment I got inside, Dad came out with a small cake, ten candles stuck in it._

_"Happy birthday, Razzie!" he said happily. My eyes widened and I squealed, jumping forward to hug him. "Whoa! Careful there, champ!"_

_"Thank you, Daddy!" I said, clinging to him as he held the cake out of the way so it wouldn't get crushed._

_"Come on into the kitchen," he invited. "I've got something to tell you..."_

"In hindsight," I said to Nico, "I would have run as fast as I could if I knew then what he was going to tell me."

"Did he?" Nico asked. I shook my head.

"He was about to, but a message came that took him on a trip. He sent me to a friend's for almost a month, and when he got back, he pretended he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked him what he had been going to tell me."

"Oh wow," he whispered. "Did he try to tell you again?"

"Yeah," I said. "When I turned thirteen, he got anxious and we moved to the place I lived until I turned sixteen, when Marbella found me. He tried to tell me, but I didn't understand anything he was saying, so he gave up and just told me to always be careful. He enrolled me in a school within walking distance of the house and he warned me to always come straight home after school. I thought nothing of it. On the first day of school, I met Anthony. I thought he was the biggest problem I'd ever have to deal with."

"He bullied you?"

"Hah. 'Bullied' is an understatement," I snorted. "He lived to humiliate me..."

_"Oops!" I registered the sarcastic voice just as someone bumped me from behind and sent me sprawling in the dust. My backpack broke open and my books went flying. Laughter rang out everywhere, and I looked up at the blonde, gray-eyed boy who was just younger than me._

_"Anthony," I said. He grinned maliciously._

_"That's Mr. Pierce to you, Porter," he said snippily. I frowned._

_"But I'm older than you."_

_"What?" In anger, he kicked me. "Say that again, Porter. I'll bash your head in!" Wincing, I held up my hands in surrender._

_"Alright!"_

_"Good," he scoffed, and then turned away, laughing with his friends..._

"I was such a coward, then," I said. Nico snorted.

"Can't really believe that," he said. "Go on."

"Yeah, well, you should have seen him in class," I said defensively. "He took every opportunity possible to make me look like an idiot." Something flashed in Nico's eyes, but he quenched it quickly.

"And he tormented you for three years?" he asked, an edge to his voice. I shrugged.

"After the first year, he settled for just making me look bad in class," I said, hoping that would placate him. His gaze narrowed, but he gestured for me to continue. "Just after my fifteenth birthday, Dad... He, um..."

"He died," Nico finished quietly, his gaze soften as he reached over to grip my hand. His thumb brushed my knuckles gently. "How?"

"A car crash," I said, feeling tears spring to my eyes. I hadn't mourned when my dad died; I held out the hope that he hadn't. After all, I'd never seen the body. "I still remember clearly the day police came to my door..."

_A knock at the door jolted me from my doze. I had gotten home early that day, but Dad wasn't back yet, so I curled up on the couch and napped while I waited. Jumping up, I ran to the door and yanked it open, my face alight, expecting to see Dad. Instead two uniformed policemen stood there, grim-faced. Immediately my smile vanished and a sinking feeling invaded my gut._

_"Yes, officers?" I asked, my voice cracking._

_"Erasmus Porter?" one of them asked. I nodded slowly. "Your father is Jerome Porter, correct?" Again I nodded, a lead weight in my stomach. He hesitated, not sure how to break the news._

_"He died," the other officer said bluntly, though sadly. "A car crash. The paramedics took him to the hospital, but they were too late; he died en route." Terror and sorrow ripped through me and I covered my mouth, choking on a sob._

_"No..."_

_"I'm sorry, son," the first said, gripping my shoulder. "Your father was... an old friend. He was a good man and a great m- ah, friend..."_

"The police knew him?" Nico asked, frowning. I nodded.

"Dad... I don't know if I ever told you, but Dad was a magician," I said. "He's the reason I have pharaoh's blood."

"Ah," he nodded. "I thought so. It makes a little more sense why Heka chose you." I smiled. The Egyptian god had gone to sleep. 'For a few years,' he'd said, and then he'd slipped off into a deeper part of my soul, resting. He'd been on hiatus for almost 16 months now, but I didn't mind; it gave me more alone time with Nico.

"I assume one or both of the officers knew he was a magician," I said. "They probably worked with him a couple of times."

"Why don't you ask?" Nico suggested. "I'm sure Carter could help you find them if they are magicians."

"I tried, a couple years ago," I said. "They both were, and both died in battle the year after I met them." He winced and I squeezed his hand. "Carter told me they were happy to give their lives for those of the people they saved. As I understand it, they rescued a tour bus and half a dozen cars full of people from an enormous demon attack."

"The Falhaven thing!" Nico said, snapping his fingers. "I heard about that! It was right after Percy and the others got back to the States; it was all over the news for a month. Those were the cops?" I nodded. "Wow. That's... crazy. What did you do during the year before Marbella?"

"Nothing," I shrugged. "Literally; I moved to the orphanage—which I hated, by the way—and went to school. Anthony laid off for a bit, and the teachers kept expressing their condolences, but I pretty much ignored everyone and everything. There were a couple of big things that should have alerted me before Marbella found me, but I was too much in pain to pay attention to them."

"Magical things?" Nico offered.

"Yeah. Like, the biggest one was this... fire," I said. "I thought the school was on fire, and I sent everyone into a panic because of it, but it turned out to be a hallucination. The school sent me to a counselor for... I think it was six months. And I still don't know what it really was."

"Someone's magic?" Percy offered, startling me.

"Another child of Hecate, maybe," Annabeth agreed. "You know, messing around with the Mist."

"I doubt that very much," Kohn countered. "Erasmus would have felt it if the Mist was involved, regardless of whether or not he knew what it was at the time."

"Did you?" Annabeth asked me. I blinked.

"Wha... The Mist? No," I stammered. "H-how long have you been listening?"

"Ah, pretty much since the beginning," she admitted. Percy nodded. I grimaced.

"Hey, relax, Ras," Percy said, patting the air in a 'calm down' motion. "We're not going to judge you for your past."

"Oh really?" I asked pointedly. "You wouldn't judge me if I said I've been gay my whole life? Or if I told you I almost refused to fall in love with Nico because of something I did to someone?" All four of my audience blinked in surprise.

"You didn't want to love me?" Nico asked.

"What did you do?" Percy and Annabeth asked simultaneously, overlapping Nico. Kohn just stared.

"Hold on; one at a time!" I pleaded, holding up my hands in defense. Looking at Nico, I started with his question. "Yes, when I first met you and figured out your preference, I instantly desired you but I was terrified to let myself love anyone." Then I faced Percy and Annabeth, who looked like they'd just realized Nico and I were dating. Ignoring that, I answered their inquiry. "As for what I did, let's just say two hearts were broken at once, and leave it at that."

"Uh-uh!" Annabeth retorted immediately. "No way; tell us." Wincing, I nodded.

"...Alright," I said, knowing just by reputation that she wouldn't stop bugging me until I told her. "It was the year before we moved; I was twelve. This... other guy admitted he'd liked me for a really long time, and I'd actually, at the time, been admiring him from a distance for quite a while. So when he asked me out, I agreed. I didn't know until much later that he had been dared to do it, and part of the dare was to see..." Flushing in embarrassment, I began stuttering. "Part of... Part of it was t-to see... He... um, he was dared to see if he could... if he could take my virginity." Nico scowled, cold darkness radiating from him. Percy and Kohn looked utterly shocked, and Annabeth made a face.

"Geez," she muttered. "Talk about seriously messed up."

"I got out of it," I hurried to add, "but later, I overhead him defending me to one of his friends. They got on him about it, and he snapped at them, saying he'd fallen for me even though he didn't want to. It... It scarred me."

"Wait, so he really did like you?" Percy clarified, frowning. "Then he was gay, too? Or bi, at least." I shrugged, flushing hotly.

"Can we not talk about sexual preferences?" I requested, embarrassed to high heaven. Nico abruptly stood and grabbed my wrist.

"Excuse us for a bit," he said tersely, pulling me after him.

"Wha..? Ah, hold on!" I stopped him long enough to grab my sword from the corner of the table where I'd leaned it before the meal. Then I let him drag me away.

"Um, are they...? I thought..." I heard Percy stammer as we left. Kohn laughed and gave a sarcastic reply, but I didn't hear it.

Nico led me quickly to my tent, which was a bit larger than it had been six and a half years ago. It now had room for a circular bed that Enova, Lilianna, and Arsine shared. Clarina and Doris still hadn't returned, but I had managed to get a hold of them through Iris-message a couple of months ago. Clarina assured me that they were on their way; they were busy gathering friends to help us. I missed them, Clarina more so than Doris, simply because I'd known her longer. But I couldn't wait for either of them to get back.

The empousai weren't there, thankfully, and Nico immediately shoved me onto my bed. Before I could move, he straddled me and pressed his mouth to mine. I reveled in the chill of delight that swept over me.

He doffed his jacket without breaking the kiss and pulled back long enough to tug off his shirt, mussing his long black hair attractively. I reached up to wrap then ends around my fingers before laying my palms against his bare chest. He'd filled out well in the last six years and now had impressive muscles. His chiseled abs stood out in a way that would make women drool. And they had. I smiled, knowing he was all mine.

"What are you smirking about?" he asked, giving his own smirk and he leaned over me, his body rippling with power.

"The fact that I get jealous glares from every female with eyes," I grinned. He laughed and ran his hands through my waist-length black-brown hair. I hated getting haircuts, so I just let it grow out, unlike Nico who kept his shoulder-length or shorter.

That was the only difference between Percy and me now: my hair. I liked my hair long, but he always cut his, probably because Annabeth made him. And while his hair was still black, mine had lightened enough that it could almost be called dark brown. Nico claimed he liked it better, not that I complained about it anyway.

"And I don't?" he chuckled. "You want to know how many women I've seen trying to touch your hair or your shirt when you pass by?" I snorted and rolled my eyes, not believing him. He let go of my hair and slipped his hands under my shirt, emphasizing his statement. "It's true. And I almost punched a guy when I caught him staring at your ass."

"Hey," I scolded. "Language." He smirked mischievously.

"Would you like me to speak a different one?" he asked, leaning down to kiss my throat. I sighed in pleasure and tilted my head back to give him access. He pushed my shirt up and shifted down to mouth at my chest, sending shivers of desire through me. When he kissed the scar I'd gotten from Kohn six years ago, the tenderness he showed set my heart pounding, which in turn sent more blood to a growing arousal that pressed against his stomach. He grinned, running his tongue across my own rock hard abs.

We'd long ago made a bet about who would be stronger and more fit in the next few years, and we'd both been building up muscle, trying to outdo the other. So far, he was winning, but not by much.

With a single deft, practiced movement, he unbuttoned my jeans and undid the zipper, pulling out my enlarged member. He kept his gaze on mine as he lightly kissed it and then wrapped his mouth around the tip. Shuddering, I reached down to tangle my hands in his hair, silently pleading with him to give me mercy. He did and I groaned as he skillfully played me.

I couldn't count the number of times we'd done this since we met, but nine out of ten times, I was leading, the dominant one. Whenever Nico took charge, though, it was like nothing else I'd ever experienced. He knew exactly what I liked, and every time he led, he showed me some new trick he'd learned. I never asked where, because I knew he loved me and me alone; he'd never cheat on me. I knew it with a certainty that rivaled even my faith in God. And I still debated on who knew me better.

"Erasmus," he said softly, moving back up to kiss me. "You know you're mine, right?" I pulled away to look at him, noting the envious glint in his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're jealous," I said, biting back a smile. "Especially of someone I haven't seen in about a decade, and whose name I've long since forgotten." He grimaced.

"Y-yeah, I guess I'm being silly," he answered sheepishly. I smiled now and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down. Melding my mouth to his, I managed to make him breathless.

"I like seeing you jealous," I whispered against his lips as he reached down to undo his belt. "I love being loved by you." A gentle, loving smile curved his lips through the kiss, and I shifted to help him as he pushed my pants down past my knees, baring my lower body to him. I stifled a cry when he entered me, and I clutched at him, dragging my nails across his skin, shuddering in bliss. He thrust in hard and deep and I couldn't stop the moan that slipped up my throat as he bit my neck just below my jaw, groaning softly.

"E-Erasmus," he murmured against my skin. "I love you." Warmth spread through me, enhancing each sensation of his body against mine. I nuzzled him, panting as he thrust into me.

"I love you, too, Nico," I said, growling at the building pleasure. Pressing myself to him, I rocked against his movements, making him tense and speed up. I screamed his name when I came, and the feel of my body clenching around his sent him over the edge, crying out my name.

As we lay in each other's arms, catching our breath, I smiled at the absolute, consuming love that filled my heart to the bursting for him. A moment of clarity hit me, and in that moment, I knew what I was going to do.

As soon as I found the right ring, I was going to propose.


End file.
